Neurologic outcome in aged rats after incomplete cerebral ischemia

The effect of age on outcome after induced cerebral ischemia was tested in rats. Cerebral ischemia was produced by unilateral carotid ligation and hemorrhagic hypotension to 30 mm Hg (moderate ischemia) or 25 mm Hg (severe ischemia) in young (6 month) and old (26-28 month) rats anesthetized with 1 MAC halothane. Young rats had significantly better neurologic outcomes than old rats after similar ischemic challenges. This advantage disappears, however, when the inspired oxygen tension is altered to produce similar PaO2 in both age groups during ischemia. Measures of regional CBF with radioactive microspheres showed a 70% decrease in cortical blood flow in the ischemic cerebral hemisphere in both young and old rats. Plasma glucose concentrations increased from 150 to 250 mg/100 mL during ischemia in both age groups. Histologically, the brains showed similar signs of focal ischemic damage in striatum, hippocampus, and cortex in young and old rats. These results indicate that when blood pressure and respiratory factors are controlled experimentally during ischemia, young and aged rats have similar neurologic outcomes after cerebral ischemia.